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JP Morgan Chase yesterday unexpectedly named Jes Staley, currently head of asset management, as chief executive of the investment bank and a potential successor to chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon. Financial News provides a selection of reaction from the blogosphere to his elevation, as he replaces Bill Winters and Steve Black.

• The New York Times DealBook, Cyrus Sanati, http://bit.ly/4EjnYl

“Despite his long tenure, Staley has an independent streak: more than once, he has disagreed with Dimon on important business decisions — and eventually won him over.
A few years later, those disagreements with Dimon don’t seem to have hurt Staley’s career — and given Dimon’s reputation for encouraging opposing views from his managers, they may actually have helped.”

• WSJ Deal Journal, Michael Corkery, http://bit.ly/1BFUbH

"Breakthrough career moments: He won over Dimon to the idea of offering only internal investment products to the wealthy clients of its private bank, known as a closed architecture strategy. He also persuaded Dimon in 2004 to purchase a large interest in Highbridge Capital Management, a successful hedge fund.
"Money quote from his boss: 'Jes was a breath of fresh air. He said from the start 'we have to perform for the client,' Dimon told Institutional Investor, referring to the debate over closed architecture."

“Staley is the same age as Dimon and has been with JP Morgan since 1979. Here’s why Staley’s age matters. If a younger executive had been appointed, JP Morgan may have lost some of its leading junior executives who would have felt that their hopes to run the bank were dashed.
"Appointing another man Dimon’s age keeps open the possibility of becoming chief executive for the likes of chief financial officer Michael Cavanagh and Mary Callahan Erdoes, 42, the chief executive of JPMorgan's private bank who succeeds Staley as head of asset management.”

“But this doesn’t necessarily mean Staley, 53, becomes the man to succeed Dimon as the big kahuna at the head of the entire banking enterprise.For starters, Dimon, who is the same age as Staley, isn’t leaving JP Morgan anytime soon.
"Also, the assumption that Staley is the heir apparent stems from the old-line thinking that the investment bank will continue to set the pace at JPMorgan. But maybe it will be the commercial banking group may that will someday rise in dominance at JP Morgan, especially if investment banks are finally required to set aside higher levels of capital in the future.”

• Sense on Cents, Larry Doyle, http://bit.ly/PqHGe
“These moves within the executive offices at JP Morgan are a classic example of what a friend and former colleague at Bear Stearns once told me about life within the upper-most echelon of Wall Street. He said: "The ledge is very narrow and the elbows are razor sharp."
"The simple fact is Winters was the outsider within that executive suite which he occupied with Black. Is Black a good guy? Does it matter? Black has a longstanding relationship with Dimon from working with him back at Smith Barney in the early to mid-90s."